Mr Gimlet and Hard Brexit

 News, this week, that the Department for Exiting from the European Union has been open to receiving advice from scientists, according to Mr Gimlet, from Viz's Finbarr Saunders (and his double entendres).

Any similarity to Prof Mark Walport is, of course, entirely coincidental.

Gimlet

Walport

'Nothing You Do Is Ultimately Wasted'

Each term I feature a different Kent award winner in the Research Services newsletter, looking at their research and discussing their career path and funding track record. In September I featured Dr Heather Ferguson. This time the spotlight falls on Prof John Batchelor in the School of Engineering and Digital Arts.

Prof John Batchelor

John Batchelor looked bashful when I pointed out that he had won more EPSRC grants - and received more EPSRC funding - than anyone else at the University. ‘I’ve just developed a thick skin,’ he joked. ‘Everyone gets knocked back. The trick is not to give up. But that’s easier said than done, especially when the rejections come all at once. That was the case for me in December. Christmas was quite dark last year.’

Impacting Parliament: Giving MPs the Information They Need

 In the second of her guest posts, the University's Impact and Engagement Officer, Maddy Bell, shares some notes on what academics should bear in mind when working with Parliament.

Parliament is actively seeking external input to make informed decisions based on sound evidence. But MPs are under huge pressure – working long hours with limited opportunity to absorb key information. Given this, academics can play a crucial role in providing them with the knowledge and understanding they need to make better policy. 

At the end of last year I attended an event run by the Houses of Parliament Universities Programme that outlined the ways in which academics can engage.  Here I summarise these, and the potential impact your research can have from working with Parliament.

Faster, Higher, Stronger

It was reported this week that the House of Lords regarded the Government's proposal to categorise universities as gold, silver and bronze as 'extremely damaging'.

Here at Fundermental Towers University (FTU) we wish to distance ourselves from the peers' narrow and antiquated disgust with a viable and popular rating system. Those aged lords and bishops just need to get over themselves and get with the times. Don't they realise that everything is rated these days, and there is no finer system than one based on Olympian metals?

In fact, we would encourage the Government to go further in aligning with the Olympic ideals. Not only should the TEF use these labels, but universities should be expected to demonstrate the Olympic ideals of Citius, Altius, Fortius, or Faster, Higher, Stronger. 

Reviewing Peer Review

Internal peer review has become increasingly prevalent in universities across the UK. The trend is the result of a push by the research councils for institutions to manage the quality of their applications better, but also to an implicit need to give academics as much advantage as possible in the increasingly competitive world of grant-winning.

In some ways, an internal peer-review system is a no-brainer. Showing your application to others for comment prior to submission is an obvious step, right? Well, yes and no.

Wellcome Trust Visit

The Wellcome Trust will be visiting the University on 23rd February 2017.

The Trust last formally visited Kent some six years ago and in that time their funding schemes have changed considerably, with more emphasis on multi-disciplinary, collaborative research.

Wellcome is the largest non-governmental funder in the UK and supports health research from the sciences, humanities and social sciences.

The event is suitable for academics, researchers, PhD students and grant support staff from all three faculties.

Please see the preliminary agenda below and register to attend here.

 If you can’t attend but are interested, do get in touch with Dr Carolyn Barker via email.  We would be happy to forward any questions to the Wellcome Trust staff or arrange further meetings.